Friday, October 30, 2009

Little updates

I don't think there's much to update. Steve never got more than a slight cough and runny nose. Ella stayed completely healthy. Mia and I still have slight coughs that haven't gone away. I expect hers will disappear soon and mine will hang a while longer. When you're pregnant, your immune system doesn't do much. Being pregnant during cold season and hoping not to get sick is kind of like wearing a windbreaker in a hurricane and hoping you stay safe. My body is too busy growing a small human to fight off a cold. At this point it's just an annoyance. It'll eventually go away.

I've been feeling Braxton-Hicks contractions, mostly first thing in the morning. This is by far the earliest I've felt them. With Ella, it took me a month to figure out that was what that was. I thought she was just balling up in my stomach. I figured it out at 34.5 weeks. With Mia, I noticed them at 21 weeks. This time it was 15.5 weeks. (Yeah, I have a notebook with all the bigger pregnancy events like that.) Since dehydration can cause them, I've started drinking more water. I'm hoping this will also help slow my weight gain. I've gained more than I would have liked so far. Watching the scale climb has been hard each time, but it's especially hard this time, after losing so much weight last year. I know it'll all come off again, but it's difficult. Yesterday I started working out again too. Tracy was kind enough to loan me a prenatal workout video. I'm thankful, but I think I may have to find a different one. Denise Austin is overly perky and I end the workout feeling like I want to kick her, not feeling energized or good about what I did for myself. I miss Turbo Jam! But the kicks aggravate my hips (my pelvis likes to separate way earlier than it needs to) and it gets my heart rate too high to be safe during pregnancy. Soon enough, right?

Mia has been super polite lately. One day she hit her head and came over to me with her hand on her head, saying, "head." So I kissed the spot where her hand had been. She said, "fanks" and walked away. Later the girls were eating lunch and I brought them forks. Mia said, "fank you Mommy." Later she had a leaky dirty diaper during nap time. I changed her diaper and pants and she said "fanks." I changed her sheets and she told me, "fank you" again and again. It's continued since then too. I like this phase. Her vocabulary is growing my leaps and bounds.

Ella builds amazing towers out of blocks. Lately her towers have become metropolises. Impressive, sprawling cities. Our camera is filled mainly with pictures of her cities and the girls in dress-up clothes. This is too great to pass up: Ella just said, "Mommy, you're my hero." Granted, I just started Veggie Tales for them, but still. :) Veggie Tales seem to hold magical powers. Last night Mia brought me a bag of chips from the kitchen. I told her that we had just had dinner and to take them back to Daddy. She said no and I told her again to take them to Daddy. She stared at me. So I told her, "If you take these back to the kitchen, we can watch Veggie Tales." She gasped and RAN to the kitchen. She came back without the chips. I promise I don't bribe my kids very often.

The girls are very sympathetic too. Last night I was upset (not over anything big, just something exacerbated by pregnancy hormones) and both girls were so concerned. Mia kissed me and watched me very closely. Ella came over and let me hold her for a while. Both girls said "crying" before coming to comfort me. They've comforted me before (these hormones are not fun) and it's so sweet. I love how compassionate they are. They get concerned when other people are upset too (especially one of their beloved Veggie Tales characters). I'm proud of them.

Coming up soon: small group tonight (for the first time), the BIG ultrasound in a few weeks, and Ella's 3rd birthday party (Curious George theme, thanks to Aunt Sarah).

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